Black Feathered Tengu
by Beedok
Summary: As part of a Secret Santa prompt exchange, using the prompts winged AU and supernatural AU, for Lady Shadow 26. An AU where Kaito is a tengu, and the need to cover an extra secret changes things for him.


Tengu were a myth. Bird people with magic powers and transformation skills... it was such a fantastical concept. And, well... even for those people open to the idea that tengu might exist, those open to the idea of ghosts and kappa and other spooky things, well, they'd assure you tengu lived in the forested mountains of Japan, far from the urban hustle and bustle. So you would certainly never find one in Tokyo. Especially not living a quiet suburban life in a single family home in Nerima.

And so, those occasional sightings of a winged humanoid, when young Kaito would struggle with maintaining his more avian form, were always dismissed as some sort of prank and the neighbours never dug much further. The general consensus was that some teenagers had attached a mannequin to a drone or built a rather strange kite. It also didn't hurt that Kaito and his mother were capable of taking on fully human forms, so the lack of anyone in the neighbourhood with vibrant red skin kept even the more superstitious neighbours from suspecting the Kuroba family (despite passing whispers due to their name, which was a bit ironic, with Toichi being fully human).

The neighbourhood's ability to dismiss the sightings didn't save Kaito from getting in trouble, however. Chikage usually liked to make fish for dinner those days, playing off his suffering from that common tengu phobia that she was lucky enough not to struggle with.

Still, things were peaceful and pleasant enough in his youth.

This calm childhood was shattered when his father died, however. His mother grew less grounded to the pleasant suburban life, and , with her connection to the human world broken, began to wander off more and more frequently. This meant Kaito was left on his own more and more. There was only one source of consistent joy in his life: his best friend Nakamori Aoko.

Whenever she noticed his mother had been away for a while, Aoko made sure to come by and visit, and usually dragged him off to her own home. Today was one of those days. His mother had been away for almost a month, possibly back home in the mountains or maybe off visiting the Rockies, Stanavoys, or some other wild range. Kaito hadn't asked, and was much more focused on his imaginary adventure with Aoko.

There was still a gap between them, Kaito had been told never to tell a human about what he was, but so far that secret hadn't been an issue. Right now Aoko was busy climbing a tree, insisting she would be able to find their way out of the endless forest that the Nakamori backyard was currently playing the role of. There were dragons to hunt. Or possibly oni. The pair had changed their minds several times.

"Careful up there!" Kaito called out. "You're really high already!"

(Kaito still wasn't sure how high was too high for a human to fall... but he was pretty sure Aoko had passed that point.)

"Aoko knows what she's doing, Bakaito," the girl muttered as she wiggled her way up closer to the top of the tree. "Aha, I think I spy a-a-waah!"

Kaito watched in terror as Aoko slipped away from the tree. For a moment the tengu boy was tempted to fly up to catch her, but he wasn't sure he'd get the angle right. Instead he ran to try to catch her as she approached the ground. Briefly, he swore he felt his wings out, but he was too panicked to think about it too much. His best friend was in danger.

He felt himself collide with her with a force that left him winded. Before he knew it, he was sprawled across the ground. But... where was Aoko? Looking around, the young tengu couldn't find the girl anywhere. Clambering to his feet, Kaito looked spun around, trying to spot her.

"Aoko!?" Kaito called out, only to find his voice sounded a little odd.

He took a couple steps before he realised what he was wearing. His heart dropped as he realised what had happened... his mother had told him that tengu could possess humans. Running in doors, Kaito found a mirror, and found Aoko's face staring back at him. His eye twitched, and the Aoko in the mirror's eye twitched too.

"Mom probably should have told me how to undo a possession," Kaito muttered.

It was then that his eyes grew large as he began to wonder if Aoko was aware right now. He also made note to yell at his mother for not explaining that either. About all she ever bothered to teach him was flying and disguising himself as a human. Dad had shown him all sorts of tricks, but his knowledge of his actual magical abilities was so sorely lacking.

"Oh, Aoko, there you are," Ginzo's voice said, causing the young tengu to turn. "Has Kaito-kun gone home then?"

"Uh... yes?" Kaito offered. It was damage control time. He'd keep playing the part of Aoko until he could figure out how to fix this.

* * *

He'd managed to avoid suspicion for the evening, knowing Aoko well enough to fake being her as he grew more and more tired. The exhaustion was too much by about 7pm however, and he managed to sneak off to Aoko's bedroom, trying not to pass out.

Staring at the bed, he felt his last energy fade away, only to have Aoko fall forward while he stood standing. Apparently it had been _her_ energy that had been draining, not his own. Kaitou let out a sigh of relief. That was one problem down.

"Kaito?" Aoko sleepily muttered. "Why are you red?"

"N-no reason!" Kaito blurted, trying to return to his faked human complexion. He then darted out her door, rushing downstairs and past a confused Ginzo.

* * *

After that, Kaito hid from Aoko. An angry phone call from the principal had forced him back to school, but he stared at the desk as much as he could. If he bored her, then she might drop the whole thing, or assume it had been a mistake. Or... something. But, he knew that if he spent more time with Aoko, she'd find out what he was in no time, and... her father was a police officer. Which meant he was tied to the government. And his mother had told him not to let the authorities find out who he was.

All he really knew was that he'd clearly failed at being human. So, he'd attend school not to raise too many suspicions from the authorities, and then spend as much time as possible hidden at home, perfect his own powers as well as his knowledge of magic tricks and sleight of hand. As well as raising his doves, feeling a kinship with the small birds.

* * *

It was a few years later when the secret room in his house opened, revealing his father's past as Kaitou Kid.

Kaito threw himself into the role immediately. Vengeance appealed to him after years of drifting. And, well, the power to sprout wings and take to the sky, transforming into a regular bird after just a few blocks to glide home, was very useful for escaping his heists. And it didn't hurt that tengu were believed to be ghosts, allowing him to play up a spirit of vengeance routine as he hunted for his father's killers.

Possession, though, that was a power he didn't want to reuse. It brought back uncomfortable memories. So he kept to his disguises.

Until one heist, when a detective had arrived fresh from England and forced thrown Kaito's whole rhythm off. Unlike Ginzo's predictable habits of simply throwing more officers at a problem, Hakuba had gone for smarter placements and keeping a better eye on officers.

Kaito had managed to get to his prize, an early Edo painting from an unknown artist, by wandering through ventilation systems too small for a human in the shape of a bird, but now that he had the painting that wasn't exactly an option. So he was left running down the hallways, dodging police officers. Only to find himself hitting a dead end that he swore wasn't on the blueprints. Which way could he turn now, with the police on his heels...

"To think, such a basic trick would trap a supposed master magician," a voice said from not far behind Kaito.

Spinning around, he saw the smug face of Hakuba Saguru. He recognised the jerk from class, even if he'd done his best not to interact with anyone when in school. Some people were just too pompous to ignore entirely.

"You built in a fake wall... cute," Kaito replied, keeping his poker face up as he tried to work out an escape plan. If the wall was fake, maybe he could knock it over...

"It might not be up to code, but there's enough 2x4s and drywall involved you won't get through very easily. Especially not with that painting you've stolen," Hakuba explained flatly, having apparently guessed at Kaito's 'plan'. "The rest of the task force will be here shortly. Why not just surrender to me, rather than having yourself be dogpiled unceremoniously? You'll at least keep some shred of dignity."

"A good magician always keeps an extra trick ready," Kaito declared. He didn't like the idea of using that power, with the bad memories it brought up, but he had no other choice.

As such, Kaito charged, throwing himself as Hakuba, all his concentration on the confused detective's face. Clearly the light haired lad thought Kaito was hoping to overpower him, going by the look he wore. An escape through simple physical force. The pair collided, both teens letting out an oomph.

And then Kaito was on his back, the painting beside him. Looking down, he could tell he was no longer dressed in his Kid outfit. Pulling some bangs into place confirmed the blonde hair (or was it light brown?) that made Hakuba so distinct.

Climbing to his feet, Kaito brushed some dust off himself and picked up the painting just as Ginzo and a good dozen task force officers game stumbling around the corner.

"What, where is he?" Ginzo shouted. "Kid was going this way!?"

"He, well, he passed through the wall we built," Kaito explained, hoping he wasn't doing too bad of a job at faking Hakuba. "Apparently he couldn't bring the painting, but... maybe his claims to be a ghost are true?"

Ginzo glared at him, before yanking on his cheek. Very forcefully towards the end. When there was no mask to pull off the inspector seemed almost annoyed.

"There's no way he walked through a wall. He's still human, even with that dumb red makeup he wears! There's a trick to it somehow!" the inspector shouted.

"I can only tell you what my eyes saw," Kaito replied with a slight bow, trying not to laugh when Ginzo had insisted he was human. "I suppose I'll go put the painting back, since we at least kept him from keeping that?"

"Sure, whatever. Kid can't have gotten far, I'm going to keep hunting!" Ginzo shouted, before starting to bark orders at his men.

Kaito slunk off, finding a stairwell to slip down towards the ground level. The emergency exit warned that the alarm would sound, but Kaito only smiled, having disarmed the system some time ago. A moment later he was outside and slinking down the alleyway with the painting tucked under his arm. No one had bothered to watch someone confirmed not to be Kid. It was so very easy.

"I wonder how long you can hold out, Hakuba-san," Kaito muttered to himself after reaching a quiet side street well away from the crowds of his adoring fans. "Maybe I'll drop you off early. I do still have some knock out gas after all.

Musing his options as he walked, Kaito decided a nearby park seemed the perfect place to leave a sleeping detective and headed in. He carefully placed his prize against a tree before walking a little bit away and then letting Hakuba drop, as best as he remembered from his last possession effort.

The young detective stumbled forward, turning around after a few steps, visibly disoriented.

"What? How? Where are we?"

"A city park. I don't actually know the name, but there was a sign a little bit that way," Kaito replied. "You can find out more when you wake up."

"When I-" Hakuba began, only to be cut off as Kaito sprayed a can of knockout gas into the detective's face.

As a tengu, Kaito had been thrilled to find out he was quite immune to the compound and couldn't help but smirk at the way Hakuba's final thoughts before drifting off seemed to realise the gas should have hit Kaito too.

The thief quickly changed his clothes, grabbed the painting, and set off back to his hideaway for larger prizes while he waited to return them in a poetic way.

He had to admit it had gone quite well. Maybe not using his possession powers had been a mistake...

* * *

Kaito was waiting in line at the school cafeteria two days after that little heist, debating what to buy, when a hand grabbed him by the collar and pulled him off balance. Whoever was dragging him along was moving at enough of a pace he couldn't manage to get himself righted to see who it was until he'd been pulled to an empty classroom and was shoved against a wall.

To his surprise, Kaito found himself looking down at a very angry looking Aoko.

"Hey, what're you doing?" Kaito protested, unsure why Aoko was suddenly accosting him after years of not talking.

"You know why, _Kaitou Kid_," Aoko whispered aggressively.

"I don't know what you're talking about," Kaito hissed back, his eyes narrow.

"The red skin had been a pretty strong giveaway, but pulling out that possession trick confirmed it," Aoko countered. "I remember what happened the day before you locked yourself away. Well, most of the day, and what my dad does remember that I don't made it pretty clear what happened."

Kaito tried to argue back, but the look Aoko shot him when he opened his mouth silenced him.

"You have two choices, Kaito: you explain to me why you're stealing things and how you have those powers, or... I tell my dad to keep an eye on you, pointing out your athletic abilities, skills with magic tricks, and having no alibi."

Kaito swallowed nervously. He liked neither option. "Why would he listen to your suspicions? Besides, I'm too young to be Kaito Kid."

"That 8 year break is more than enough time for someone to train an apprentice," Aoko replied. "I don't know if the first Kid was injured or something, but Hakuba got a half decent look at you and mentioned that he saw a resemblance to me this morning, so there's a good argument. So... I'm giving you one last chance. Since... since we used to be friends."

Kaito saw the slight glimmer of tears in Aoko's eyes and felt himself melt a bit. Ignoring her had always hurt. Without her encouraging friendship...

"I don't know if I deserve one," Kaito whispered.

Aoko gave him a gentle smile. "I think that's a good sign. It's show's you still have morals."

"I'm also not sure you'd believe me," Kaito added.

"I saw you with bright crimson skin and black wings. That's a pretty good hint of what you are, but I want confirmation," Aoko replied.

Kaito grimaced. "I suppose we tengu are pretty distinctive."

With that, he dropped his human disguise, showing his crimson skin and stretching his wings out a bit. "The why I'm stealing part will take a little longer to get through though."

Aoko took a step back, taking in the transformation. She seemed impressed by the wings, which made Kaito smirk. Then she got to his nose and it was her turn to smirk, while he was glad his blushing was imperceptible against his scarlet complexion.

"Well then, you'd better get started," Aoko replied, still smirking.

Kaito couldn't help smiling. If this went well, then he'd have his best friend back.


End file.
